Talk:Whirlwind

Merge with Tornado?

"Whirlwind" is often a synonym for tornadoes, the whirlwind is a generic subject (in fact, Mario series tornadoes are closer to real life whirlwinds than true tornadoes) and at least in French, it's even called a "tornado". Is the naming difference significant enough to keep these separate? Xiahou Ba^{(the Nasty Warrior)} 18:07, August 13, 2022 (EDT)

Unless we find LoO is different, this is likely another relic of the "Tweester" page coverage being too broad. Merginate 'em. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 00:02, August 14, 2022 (EDT)

Merge with Tornado

This talk page section contains an unresolved talk page proposal. Please try to help and resolve the issue by voting or leaving a comment.

Current time: Saturday, September 27, 2025, 22:58 GMT

Look at this, these things have the same Japanese name as tornado, they behave like a tornado and in later games they didn't even receive a name . See the discussion above if you still have any doubts.

Proposer: Sorbetti (talk)
Deadline: October 3, 2025, 23:59 GMT

support

1. Sorbetti (talk) Per all.
2. PrincessPeachFan (talk) The SMB3 One was called Whirlwind.
3. LinkTheLefty (talk) This is a tornado.
4. Rykitu (talk) Whirlwinds are tornados.
5. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) - Same subject adapted for specific mechanics. Probably only split in the first place as yet another relic of when standard tornadoes tended to be merged to Tweester.
6. Xiahou Ba, The Nasty Warrior (talk) Per all and my above comments.
7. Arend (talk) It does look like the whirlwinds are referred to as "Tatsumaki" (just like tornadoes) even in the original JP version of Superstar Saga. And while the whirlwinds in Superstar Saga look draconic and swirly as a visual pun on that same "Tatsumaki" word ("tatsu" meaning "dragon" and "maki" meaning "spiral"), they look like ordinary tornadoes in every subsequent Mario & Luigi game.
8. Camwoodstock (talk) Per proposal. We can at least vouch that the Whirlwind name is in-game, but seeing as this is kind of just. "Tornado, in the Mario & Luigi series", we feel it's a fair merge.

oppose

1. Salmancer (talk) Something's not right here... I think Sorbetti has been a little jumpy on the "make proposals whenever someone has voiced a desire to merge/split pages safe in the knowledge that if at least one other user is saying it it'll probably hold across the userbase. I wouldn't be anywhere near as jumpy. First off, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey have guide features with oodles upon oodles of text in them, and I am not comfortable with making this merge without first consulting both games' entry on Spin Jump (Mario & Luigi series). (I'm not actually sure if the former game has a guide for field actions but the latter one does because I just checked a video of someone who was in the ballpark of that menu.) Second, how many times have we told the language of origin "no, we're not keeping these two different things on the same page because they have the same name in the language of origin"? Including for the "in a similar boat as Whirlwind" Twister. For me to remove this vote, this proposal has to actively prove that the two things in question are the same thing, which it currently doesn't. In part because it only says "look at this video" then gets to the voting, and while that's fine for the "obvious mistakes" and we meme around about them, the nature of my complaints means the topic is a little too meaningful to shrug off this way.
2. Martendo (talk) Per Salmancer.

Comments

Question! Is there a source for Whirlwind being a name specifically from a Prima guide, versus from in-game? :o ~Camwoodstock ( talk ☯ contribs ) 23:53, September 18, 2025 (EDT)

Good question. I found the Japanese name, and that pretty much decides everything else now. Sorbetti (talk) 00:14, September 19, 2025 (EDT)

The game says "Whirlwind Warning" on a sign. I think that settles it. PrincessPeachFan (talk) 08:49, September 19, 2025 (EDT)

Isn't the "whirlwind" also the name of the gust summoned by the Recorder/Whistle in The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. 3? LinkTheLefty (talk) 09:10, September 19, 2025 (EDT)

@Salmancer Well, I thought that with the above discussion, the video, and my short explanation, it would be understandable for most users the reason for the merge. However, I don't mind taking more time to explain it. "Whirlwind" is nothing different from a tornado, in terms of appearance and name, because, as Link mentioned below, tornadoes in SMB3 were also called Whirlwinds. So the name is not even a feasible point to keep it merged, since Japan considers it a tornado, and English uses a name that tornadoes have already used before. The comparison with Twister seems erroneous to me, since what makes Twister different from tornadoes is that they are alive, and despite having the same name as tornadoes in Japan, it is considered different, being more of an enemy than an obstacle at this point. That's not shared by Whirlwind, since it's literally a tornado, adapted to a game mechanic. Not all tornadoes act exactly the same, however, that doesn't stop them from being, well, a tornado. A very different case from moving sand and quicksand, where moving sand behaves contrary to the purpose of quicksand. Look at these tornadoes, they behave like tornadoes, they drag you like tornadoes, and they expel you like tornadoes, and you can control them to your advantage, like most 3D Mario games. The information covered on the page is relatively small, and it really doesn't provide any benefit to remain on its own page. Instead, it can be a redirect to the Tornado page, where we can cover it without problems. And to finish, this proposal, and my other proposals, where I have been "jumpy", I've been thinking them for quite some time, It's not like that I just saw the page today and the made the proposal. I have been thinking about this one for 2 months, and I was waiting for someone else to do it, but as that was not the case, I did it. Also, as I had previously evaluated the page and the discussion above, and I thought that I really had nothing more to say. I make these proposals short because they really do not need much material to be understood, since the state of the page speaks for itself. Sorbetti (talk) 19:31, September 19, 2025 (EDT)

Also, @Salmancer, the merge was suggested three years ago on the grounds that whirlwind is a generic subject and it's a relic of the Tweester page being too broad. PrincessPeachFan (talk) 06:52, September 20, 2025 (EDT)

Hi the person who made the comment three years ago is here voting support. 👋 Xiahou Ba^{(the Nasty Warrior)} 12:23, September 21, 2025 (EDT)

@Martendo, the whole thing is that Whirlwind is a generic name. PrincessPeachFan (talk) 09:01, September 24, 2025 (EDT)

Looks a bit like a dragon...

I rescinded my vote because I noticed something peculiar about the Superstar Saga whirlwind - It kind of looks like a swirling dragon (the Eastern kind). This may be a visual pun, as "tatsumaki" is a portmanteau of 竜 (tatsu, "dragon") + 巻き (maki, "spiral") - meaning that "Tatsumaki" literally means "dragon spiral". I'm not sure how the whirlwind looks in other games, but if it consistently looks like a swirling dragon spiral, then it may be a unique kind of tornado, much like Twister from Super Mario Maker 2 and Tweester from Paper Mario and Mario Party 5. rend (talk) (edits) 15:29, September 27, 2025 (EDT)

Small update: the Partners in Time tornadoes do not seem to look like draconic spirals, but the game may refer to them as "twisters" in English. rend (talk) (edits) 15:58, September 27, 2025 (EDT)

Another update: the Bowser's Inside Story whirlwinds don't look draconic, either... seems like that visual pun is an original Superstar Saga-only thing. rend (talk) (edits) 16:13, September 27, 2025 (EDT)

Oh, and it looks like they're referred to as "Tatsumaki" in the JP versions of Partners in Time, Bowser's Inside Story, and Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr's Journey as well. rend (talk) (edits) 16:50, September 27, 2025 (EDT)

Doesn't look really draconic to me at all, just sharp and stylized like most things in the game. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 17:23, September 27, 2025 (EDT)

Either way, the remake noticeably discludes that potential element. LinkTheLefty (talk) 18:26, September 27, 2025 (EDT)

Yah Arend already mentioned that above... Oh wait they just mentioned the BiS remake, my mistake. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 18:32, September 27, 2025 (EDT)

It's because Sorbetti already showed a video including the whirlwind from the Superstar Saga remake in the body of their proposal. rend (talk) (edits) 18:58, September 27, 2025 (EDT)